atmospheric aging of internally mixed sea salt and organic
TRANSCRIPT
Atmospheric Aging of Internally Mixed Sea Salt and Organic Particles: Surprising Reactivity of NaCl with Weak Organic Acids A. Laskin,1,* R. C. Moffet,2,† M. K. Gilles,2 J. D. Fast,3 R. A. Zaveri,3 B. Wang,1 J. Shutthanandan1
1William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington, 99352, USA. 2Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, 94720, USA.
3Atmospheric Science and Global Change Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington, 99352, USA. †Currently at Department of Chemistry, University of the Pacific, Stockton, California, 95211, USA
CARES 2010 June 15th G-1 flight path (yellow line)
9:18 am 9:51 am
10:09 am9:54 am
Sea salt particles
Sulfate particles w/ minor sea salt
Sulfates
SEM images and EDX elemental maps of a single particle showing characteristic internal heterogeneity of aged sea-salt particles from the CARES field study.
SeaSalt
Sulfates/SeaSalt
Sulfates
Carbonaceousother
a)
b)
CARES G1, June 15th particles
SulfatesSea Salt Sulfates/Sea Salt Carbonaceous
[Na]>0
other
[Na]=0
[Na]>[S] [Na]<[S]
[Na]>[Al,Si,Ca,K]
C,N,O,S only C,N,O only
Classification Scheme
Particle Classes (CCSEM/EDX analysis)
SeaSalt
SeaSalt/Sulfate Sulfates
Carbonaceous Other
Particle EDX spectrum. The low intensity Cl signals indicate remarkable chloride depletion, while the low intensity of N and S suggest only modest formation of nitrates and sulfates. The presence of C, Mg, and Na in the halo area is likely due to formation of organic salts.
Colored circles correspond to the collection locations for samples selected for microscopy analysis. Corresponding blue, green, beige, and red lines indicate the forward trajectories of particles released at the ocean surface, based on a coupled mesoscale & Lagrangian particle dispersion modeling system, that correspond to the time and space location of the collection aboard the G1.
June 15th All Particle Classes
STXM maps and NEXAFS spectra of organic constituents
in sea salt particles
CARES Aged Sea Salt Particles
Organic material has a characteristic peak at 288.5 eV attributed to the presence of
carboxylic acids from anthropogenic sources.
Fresh Sea Salt Particles (Pt. Reyes National Seashore)
Note: 290.4 eV peak is attributed to carbonates present in sea water. The carbonates remain unreacted during the aging process and are detected in both fresh and aged particles.
Particle STXM/NEXAFS maps corresponding to
different transport times
organic carbon constituents inorganic regions
Changes in
morphology,mixing,carbon content & bonding
June 15th Sea Salt Particles CCSEM/EDX Elemental Ratios
(Cl + N + 0.5S) (Na + 0.5Mg)
Cl (Na + 0.5Mg)
dashed line (1) indicates chloride quantitatively displaced by nitrate and sulfate
Transport Times dashed line indicates unreacted sea salt
Chloride Depletion
Not accounted for by reaction with nitric &
sulfuric acids
Chemical imaging analysis of internally mixed sea salt/organic particles collected on board the Department of Energy (DOE) G-1 aircraft during the 2010 Carbonaceous Aerosols and Radiative Effects Study (CARES) was performed using electron microscopy and X-ray spectro-microscopy techniques. Substantial chloride depletion in aged sea salt particles was observed. This depletion could not be explained by the known atmospheric reactivity of sea salt with inorganic nitric and sulfuric acids. Field evidence is presented showing that chloride components in sea salt particles may effectively react with organic acids releasing HCl gas to the atmosphere, leaving behind particles depleted in chloride and enriched in the corresponding organic salts. While formation of the organic salts products is not thermodynamically favored for bulk aqueous chemistry, these reactions in aerosol are driven by high volatility and irreversible evaporation of the HCl product from drying particles. These field observations were corroborated in a set of laboratory experiments where NaCl particles mixed with organic acids were found to be depleted in chloride. Combined together, the results indicate substantial chemical reactivity of sea salt particles with secondary organics that has been largely overlooked in the atmospheric aerosol chemistry. Atmospheric aging, and in particular hydration-dehydration cycles of mixed sea salt/organic particles may result in formation of organic salts that will modify the acidity, hygroscopic and optical properties of aged particles.
Acid displacement reactions of sea salt chlorides with inorganic acids (present in the atmosphere) result in chloride depletion
†NaCl (aq) + HA (aq, g) ↔ †NaA (aq) + HCl (aq, g)
†NaCl denotes chloride salts of sea water, and HA are atmospheric acids such as HNO3 (nitric acid), H2SO4 (sulfuric acid), and CH3SO3H (methanesufonic acid, MSA). These reactions release volatile HCl (g) to the atmosphere. The remaining particles are enriched in the corresponding salts and depleted in chloride. Low volatility carboxylic acids are inherent constituents of SOA formed from both biogenic and anthropogenic precursors. Hence, particles of mixed NaCl/SOA composition may undergo similar reactions processes. These reactions would liberate HCl(g) and promote the formation of organic salts in the particle phase.
Funding for data collection onboard the G-1 aircraft was provided by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research (OBER), Climate and Environmental Sciences Division (CESD). Funding for data analysis was provided by the U.S. DOE’s Atmospheric System Research (ASR) Program, OBER, CESD. The CCSEM/EDX particle analysis was performed in the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a national scientific user facility sponsored by OBER at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. PNNL is operated by the U.S. Department of Energy by Battelle Memorial Institute under contract DE-AC06-76RL0. The STXM/NEXAFS particle analysis was performed at beamlines 11.0.2 and 5.3.2 at the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The work at the Advanced Light Source was supported by the Director, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. ���
Funding Acknowledgements Complementary Laboratory Studies
1 µm 2 µm
3 µm
3 µm
2 µm
3 µm
NaCl NaCl/Acetic Acid
NaCl/MalonicAcidNaCl/MalicAcid
NaCl/Tartaric Acid NaCl/Citric Acid
0.1 10.00.20.40.60.81.01.21.4 Acetic Acid/NaCl particles
Cl/N
a
0.1 1
0.00.20.40.60.81.01.21.4
0.1 10.00.20.40.60.81.01.21.4
Citric Acid/NaCl particles
Malic Acid/NaCl particles
Cl/N
a
0.1 10.00.20.40.60.81.01.21.4
NaCl particles
0.1 10.00.20.40.60.81.01.21.4
Particle Diameter, µm
Tartaric Acid/NaCl particles
Cl/N
a
Particle Diameter, µm0.1 1
0.00.20.40.60.81.01.21.4
Malonic Acid/NaCl particles
Cl/Na below unity
(dashed lines)
indicate Cl depletion by organic acids.
Cl/Na ratios measured by CCSEM/EDX from dry residues of NaCl, and mixed organic acid/NaCl (1/1 molar ratio) particles.
Proposed Aging of Sea Salt Aerosol
hydration & dehydration
prior to impaction
NaCl (aq) + HA (aq, g) ↔ NaA (aq) + HCl (aq, g)
uptake of secondary organic aerosol (w / acid functional groups) &
reacctions in droplet NaCl
Although very little dissociation occurs with a weak acid, if the Henry’s law constant is large, as the particle dries the loss of HCl to the gas phase (small Henry’s law constant) pushes the reaction towards the products.
small Ka large KH
medium Ka medium KH
fresh
Complex interplay of acid strength, & solubility